Rose Colored Moon
by The Almighty Ro
Summary: The former holders of the Millennium Items have descened into darkness. Yugi and the gang have to save the world from sharing the same fate, on top of saving the former holders themselves. Only question, what does this have to do with Yugi's cousin.HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Yay, my first Yu-Gi-Oh fic! And me no own.

Shio: Yes, I can't wait to see what people'll do to you when they figure out what your gonna do to the charries.

Ro: o.O

Shio: Enjoy su!

Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, great kings played a powerful game. But these 'shadows games' erupted into a war that nearly destroyed the world until a brave Pharaoh locked the magic away. He sealed it within seven mystical items, hoping it wouldn't reawaken and destroy the world. What he didn't know was there was an eighth…

**Chapter 1**

"Would you mind explaining to me again why we're at the air port Yug?" Joey asked as he yawned widely.

Yugi looked up at him with a smile. "I already told you, we're here to pick up my cousin," he said happily. He was also holding up a sign with letters in English on it.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with me?" the blonde asked, putting his hands behind his head.

Yugi's smile turned into a look of exasperation. "She's been in the U.S. since first grade and wanted to see everyone."

Joey paled when he realized who Yugi was talking about. "Your not talking about Rolly Rosie, are you?"

"Yup," Yugi said, satisfied his friend's reaction. "Tea and Tristan should be back with food by now."

As if on queue, Tristan walked up with two bags of McDonalds. He tossed one to Joey and laughed when it hit the distracted teen's head.

"What's with him?" Tristan asked as he took a bite of an unknown burger.

Yugi shrugged. "All I did was mention that Rosie was the one we're picking up and the color drained from his face," he looked around. "Hey, where's Tea?"

"She's still getting drinks," the brown haired boy said. "So Yugi, does your cousin duel?"

"Yeah, in fact she's a bigger she's a bigger gamer than I am," he replied.

Tristan smirked. "Yeah but you're the King of Games and Battle City Champion. No one's better than you."

About then is when Tea walked up with their drinks. "Not here yet?" she asked.

"She should be coming out of the gate soon," Yugi replied thoughtfully.

"Yugi, over here!"

Everyone, including Joey (since he'd snapped out it when he realized there was food), turned to see a girl in black running toward them. That was when their jaws (as well as their drinks) dropped.

She wore a black dress that hung on her shoulders and stopped at mid-thigh with two belts hanging on her hips. She also had on fishnet stockings with black boots that stopped below her knees. The long sleeves of her dress belled out over her hands as she waved to them. Her blonde hair was short on one side with bangs and long on the other with no bangs, very strange. Also, another strange trait she had was her different colored eyes. Her left one was a dark purple, and the other was a light sky blue. Around her neck was a black choker with a red rose on it and a gold chain wrapped around her neck three times (A/N Think of how Kaiba wears his card locket thingy now. .)with a gold crescent moon pendant. The moon seemed to have something in between the two points.

"R-Rose?" Yugi asked in disbelief.

"Yup. Glad to see you still have the tri-colored hair," she replied with a giggle, mussing with his hair.

"It is you," he said in delight and gave her a hug, then introduced everyone. "You remember Tea," Tea said hi and Rose smiled, "And this is Tristan and Joey."

"Hello Rose, do you think I could your email address?" Tristan asked, putting on one of his most charming smiles.

Rose gave him a deadpanned look. "I don't think so."

"Darn," he said, snapping his fingers.

"Hey wait a minute, I thought you liked my sister," Joey said, pointing accusingly at his friend.

Tristan got a dreamy look on his face. "I did, but she's too delicate for my tastes."

Joey got angry and lunged at Tristan only to be stopped by Yugi. "I'll show you too delicate!" he yelled.

"Joey calm down," Yugi pleaded.

Meanwhile…

"They do this often?" Rose asked Tea.

"Yeah, but you get used to it after a while," she replied.

"Should I get my luggage then?"

"Yeah."

Rose nodded before yelling to Yugi, "Hey, I'm going to get my stuff from baggage claim!"

Without waiting for a response, she turned around and began walking away. However, before Rose was even five steps from the group, someone collided with her and sent her to the ground. And let me tell you, it was like a bad train wreck what happened next, for the person was none other than Seto Kaiba.

"Ow, damnit, watch where your going stupid," she said as she stood up.

"Why don't you," Kaiba said. "After all, you were the one not paying attention."

Rose was fuming. "You're supposed to say sorry when you run into someone."

Kaiba glared at her before he walked away. "I'll consider it when you dress differently," he said over his shoulder.

"Like I'll really consider that Mr. Sunshine," she yelled after him. She then turned towards the others, mumbling, "Someone needs a happy meal."

"You do know that was Seto Kaiba, right?" Joey asked with saucers for eyes.

"Seto Wha-wha?"

Tea gave her a deadpanned look. "Never mind."

Rose felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down. "Huh?"

"Hi, I'm Mokuba. I'd just like to apologize for my brother's behavior," Mokuba said. "You see, we're here to pick up the Rose Duelist as part of a deal with another company and we can't find him."

Confusion passed over Rose's face but was quickly replaced with understanding. She nodded to Mokuba. "I accept your apology Mokuba. And make sure you tell Mr. Sunshine to calm down too."

Mokuba sweat dropped, said he would, and left. Rose got her luggage and they all piled into a taxi and went to Yugi's house.

"Gramps," Rose yelled happily as she hugged him.

"Rosaline," he replied in disbelief. "Look at how big you've gotten. Why, you're taller than Yugi."

"You mean she wasn't before," Tristan asked in amusement, earning him a whack in the head from Rose.

Grandpa laughed. "No, Yugi was always the tall one," he said then turned back to Rose. "What have they been feeding you in America?"

Rose smirked. "Well there's pizza, burgers, chilidogs…Basic teenage survival foods."

Grandpa laughed again. "I'll go order take-out while you kids catch up."

"'Kay," everyone said in unison.

They talked for awhile and found out Joey knew Rose as well. He met her in kindergarten and she'd used to torture him. When they asked how, he wouldn't say. That was when Rose mentioned 'Barney'. And let's just say there's a Joey shaped mark in the ceiling now. After that, everyone ate and the other's went home.

"Ok you two, time for sleep. Your going to school tomorrow," Grandpa stated after everyone had left.

"Aww, grandpa, at least let me get over my jet lag," Rose whined.

"Now, now, you have the entire weekend to sleep," Yugi said playfully.

Rose glared at him, but reluctantly agreed. Just as they were going to sleep, Rose commented on Yugi's millennium puzzle. (A/N They have to share a room since there isn't a spare one.)

"It's called the Millennium Puzzle," he said, holding it up in his hands. "It's one of seven items and the most sought after."

Rose looked at it from her make-shift bed on the ground. "That eye in the middle looks just like the one on my necklace."

Yugi stared at her. "'Your necklace'," he asked with interest.

"Yeah. Grandma gave it to me before she died. She told me to keep it with me always," she replied as she fished for the clasp on the chain around her neck. When she found it, she took it off and held it up for her cousin to see, revealing the crescent moon pendent she'd had on earlier. Only this time, Yugi could see the small Egyptian eye between the two points. As Rose held it up, the puzzle and pendant began to glow.

"Whoa," Was all Yugi said when the light dimmed and went out.

Rose looked at her necklace in confusion. "It's never done that before," she said as she poked her necklace. "C'mon necklace, make that pretty light again."

Yugi gave her a funny look. "I think we should go to sleep," he suggested, changing the subject.

Rose nodded. "G'night Yugi."

"Night."

Yugi.

'Yeah Pharaoh?' Yugi said as the spirit of the puzzle appeared on the end his bed.

That light that came from your cousin's necklace was that of a Millennium Item, the Pharaoh said, his arms crossed over his chest.

'I know,' he replied. 'Do you think it's one of the seven?'

The Pharaoh shook his head. No. We already have the Millennium Tauk, plus three other items as well. For some reason though, something is telling me this isn't one of them.

Yugi sat up and faced his counter part. 'The puzzle glowed too. Maybe something happens every time we come across a new item? I mean, it's happened before.'

Yes, but that pendant isn't one of the seven items. I don't know how I know this, but I do. It's as if a piece of my memory was unlocked, he said looking down.

Yugi was silent for a moment. 'I bet that's what that light was,' he finally said, making the Pharaoh look up with questioning eyes. 'The puzzle started glowing, too, and I'm betting the light may have unlocked some of your memories.'

The Pharaoh's face lit up as soon as Yugi finished speaking. That would explain it, he said. He would have continued, but some movement on the floor caught his attention.

"…evil nerds of death…" Rose mumbled in her sleep as she shifted slightly.

I think you should get to sleep, he said after giving the sleeping girl an odd look.

Yugi nodded and lay down, also going to sleep. However, the Pharaoh didn't disappear back into the puzzle. He continued to stare at Rose until dawn started to break, all the while thinking she looked very familiar.

1 week earlier…

Marik Ishtar was gathering his things from his old room in the lair of the Tomb Keepers. He was extremely happy he wouldn't have to live the rest of his life in the dark, and thought his sister, Ishizu, felt the same way. It was all thanks to the Pharaoh, too. Odeon, however, had been a bit distant lately.

Marik found himself humming when his joy finally swelled through his entire being. That was when Ishizu burst in through the door, scaring the living daylights out of him. (A/N No pun intended. .;)

"Brother, come quickly," she said franticly, grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him with her.

"What is it Ishizu," he asked in concern. She didn't answer and stopped when they got to the main hall to see Odeon talking with a young man in a turban. It was none other than Shadi.

"Hello Master Marik," he greeted in his rich voice. "I'm sure you know why I'm here?"

Marik paled and nodded when he realized what it was. "You've found the eighth item."

**End Chapter 1**

Wow, it's finally done.

Shio: Yeah, it's pretty long…So when's the next chappy coming? .

Ro: When I get enough reviews. .

Shio: Aww… TT

Ro: So if you want the next chappy, Read and Review!

Shio: Please for the love of chocolate r&r!


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter, w00t!

Shio: Yay, more flames for the Ro-chan!

Ro: oO;

Shio: The Almighty Ro-chan does not own Yu-Gi-Oh. bows

Ro: That doesn't mean I can't dream! goes into own little world

Shio: ; Please start the story. I wanna see you torture Kaiba-boy.

Ro: Enjoy su!

**Chapter 2**

"I can't believe you threw my alarm clock out my window," Yugi yelled as he and Rose ran down the street to school.

"It's not my fault, the blasted thing was attacking my eardrums," she yelled back. "Besides, it's Friday and I'd told you not to put it so close to my head!"

Yugi was silent and they made it just as the bell rang. They said goodbye as Rose went up to the office to get her schedule. She was greeted by the secretary with a warm smile and was told to sit down while she went to get the schedule. (A/N Everyone makes the principle's secretary a bitch, but I won't.)

"My, my, you're the third new student today," she said when she returned.

"I am?" Rose asked in surprise.

The secretary nodded. "Yes. A young boy and his older sister started today. The boy has the same homeroom as you," she said, then added as an after thought, a dreamy smile on her face, "He's really handsome, too."

Rose sweat dropped. "Uh, could I have a guide so I can get to my homeroom?"

The secretary blinked as she snapped out of her daydream. "Oh, uh, yes. I'll call for someone right now," she said as she picked up the phone and dialed. She put her hand to the receiver. "I hope you don't get caught for dress code."

Rose looked down at her uniform. It was basically the same as usual one, but she had made a few adjustments. For instance, Rose had worn her fishnet stockings and Doc Martins boots instead of the traditional white knee high socks and brown loafers. She also had the sleeves of her pink jacket rolled up to just below her elbows. The long part of her hair was done in a braid and the short part was in a little pigtail tied off with black ribbons. Rose shrugged and went to sit down to await her guide.

A few minutes later, a guy walked in. Rose couldn't see his face, but from what she could see, he was tall with brown hair. He was also probably pretty cute too from the way the secretary was acting, but that was just her. The secretary pointed to her and she assumed he was her guide. Standing up with her bag, she waited for him to turn around and introduce himself. Slowly, he turned around to reveal…

"YOU!" Rose yelled as she pointed at Kaiba accusingly. This rude, arrogant bastard was supposed to be her guide?-she'd rather get lost and starve than let him lead her around. And from his expression, Kaiba wasn't to thrilled either.

"Miss, I came up here because you said you had something productive to do," he said to the secretary, sending Rose a condescending glare. "I like to know what that is now."

The secretary looked from Rose to Kaiba like the were circling dogs getting ready to attack each other. Biting her nails, she chose her words carefully. "I-I wanted you to take our newest student to her homeroom and show her around at lunch," she stuttered.

Kaiba was about to decline, but he caught the look Rose was sending him, just daring him to back out. That's when he realized that, new student or no, she could ruin him by saying that Kaiba was afraid of a little girl. He would not have that happening anytime soon.

"Fine," he snarled. "What's your homeroom number?"

"C17, class A," Rose replied curtly, still glaring up at him. 'He's like a bloody bean stock,' she thought in annoyance. (A/N Heh heh, he's taller than her. rocks thrown at Ro Owie. ;;)

The secretary looked relieved while Kaiba looked even more irritated. This was just lovely. Walking out, he paused momentarily to motion jerkily for Rose to follow. She did so without complaint.

They walked down the hall in complete silence, neither bothering to break it nor caring how uncomfortable it was. And in the midst of all this annoying silence, the annoying little girl walking beside Kaiba decided to hum a little tune. A rather annoying tune; can you say "It's a Small World"?

Kaiba glanced at her. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to break the windows," he said harshly, trying to ignore her. Gods was that song annoying.

Rose glared sideways at him, her duel colored eyes issuing a warning, but complied. It was a pathetic song after all. Of course, that was when she started playing with her necklace, the tinkling sound it made grating on the tall boy's nerves. Kaiba's patience snapped.

"Would you stop with your incessant, irritating behavior!" he all but yelled at her.

Rose looked up at him with teary eyes, clutching her necklace with both hands. "Y-you don't have t-to be so me-mean," she stuttered in a cute, squeaky voice.

Kaiba was a bit unnerved by Rose's sudden personality change. One moment she was annoying and humming, the next she was annoying and crying. Okay, so the annoying part was still true. He tried to ignore her, but his lack of acknowledgement only made his situation worse and she began wailing as more tears streamed down her face.

Okay, so now Kaiba felt bad. Which in it's self was amazing considering how self-centered he was. But, for some unknown and completely odd reason, he couldn't stand to see Rose cry.

"H-hey, don't cry, no tears," he said, at a complete loss. Then he did something completely out of character: he apologized. "I'm sorry," he said, the words rolling off his tongue like battery acid. Hey, I said out of character, of course, the surprising thing was he meant it.

"R-really?" she queried.

Kaiba paused before answering, pondering whether or not he should let her bruise his pride like this. "Yes," he said finally.

Within the span of one second, Rose's tears stopped falling and she was as normal as she usually is. Sort of. "Good," she said in a light tone, smiling brightly. "'Cause now I don't have to send my cousin after you."

With that, she turned on her heel and glided over to their classroom, seeing it not too far away.

During all this, however, Kaiba couldn't help but feel gypped. He was silent during the rest of the walk to their class, trying to sort through his anger and confusion.

"Class, today we have another new student," the teacher declared to her students. They clapped politely, signifying they were listening. "Her name is Rosaline Motou and she comes from America, so please make her feel welcome." She turned to look at Rose. "Would you like to add anything?"

Said girl nodded and stepped forward. "Hi my name's Rose. I'm 16, have lived in the grand ol' U.S. of A for the last nine years, and that handsome little midget over there is my cousin," she said, pointing to Yugi, who blushed and held his hand up in greeting.

The teacher sweat-dropped. "Right, um, Rose, go sit between your cousin and our other new student. Marik, please raise your hand."

The sandy-haired Egyptian did so. Smiling at him in greeting, Rose took her seat next to him, noticing Kaiba a few desks away. While she said hello to the others around her, she failed to notice the weird looks he was sending her way.

"Okay class, since we have two new students today, I'm giving you the day off to ask them questions about their lives," the teacher said. "So be sure to make them feel welcome and have fun."

"Hello, I'm Marik."

Rose turned her seat so she was facing him. "Hi, so you're the other new student the secretary was talking about," she said brightly. Marik blushed slightly. "So where are you from?"

"He's from Egypt," Joey said, grabbing the tanned boy in a choker hold that was loose enough not to hurt him. "We all met a while back and hated him."

Rose looked at them confusedly, so Tea answered her unasked question. "When we first met, he'd done some pretty things nasty to us and tried to steal Yugi's puzzle," she supplied the blonde.

"Yes and I am deeply sorry for it," the current topic of the conversation said. "I disgraced myself and don't deserve your kindness and forgiveness."

"You've got that right," a voice behind them said. Whipping around, they groaned when they saw it was Kaiba. Rose glared heatedly at him.

"Oh look, it's the Jolly Green Giant," she said sarcastically.

Kaiba fixed her with a glare of his own. "You are working on my nerve girl," he said through gritted teeth.

Rose smirked at him. "Well unless you want me to finish, I suggest insulting someone else Kaiba-boy."

Kaiba was steaming now. Everyone who was watching the interaction backed up slightly, even Yugi and the others. An angry Kaiba was not a good one; not that a normal Kaiba was either, but hey. Anyway, ever since the 'Pegasus Incident' (finger emphasis), no one had ever called him Kaiba-boy. Not like anyone one could before either, but you get my point.

"Now, if you don't want what happened in the hallway to stay a secret, then by all means, go on," she continued, an evil gleam in her duel colored eyes as she winked at him. "Oh, and please keep your incessant, irritating behavior to a minimum?" she added with a smile.

Kaiba's face was now scarlet from repressed rage. His clenched fists were shaking so hard that everyone was worried he would lose it and slug Rose in the face, not a good thing on his part. But in the end he just turned around sharply and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Everyone looked wide-eyed back Rose, who was now giggling like a maniac.

"Man, what'd you do to make Kaiba so mad?" Joey asked after a tense silence, not sure whether to be impressed or horrified.

"Not telling," Rose replied almost giddily, giving everyone the victory sign.

Yugi gave her a suspicious look, his eyes narrowed. "You didn't **cry** did you?" he asked, putting emphasis on 'cry'.

"Maybes," she replied innocently, putting a finger to the corner of her mouth thoughtfully.

"What do you mean by 'cry', Yugi," Tea asked him curiously.

"Well, ever since we were little Rose has always been able to manipulate people by making herself cry, you know to get what she or someone else wanted," he explained, giving his cousin a deadpanned look. She just continued to grin like a dork and give everyone the victory sign. "Anyway, she usually doesn't cry for real unless she's really upset."

"Well at least we know what all the yelling was about," Tristan said monotonously, giving Rose a blank look.

"In which case, thank you for defending me. It was really unnecessary," the no longer silent Marik said. (A/N HE SPEAKS!) "Especially since I really don't deserve your kindness."

Rose smiled warmly at him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Marik, whatever you did you're forgiven. Besides, it's my belief that you shouldn't hold a grudge against someone who's truly sorry," she told him gently.

Marik felt himself turning red as Rose looked at him; it was lucky for him, since his dark complexion hid it from view. He saw everyone looking at him oddly, so to avoid their probing stares, he looked down and what he saw made him nearly yell out. He was looking at Rose's necklace. _'It's the Millennium Moon!'_

Yugi took noticed of the slightly horrified look on Marik's face and the pieces began to come together. He realized what the former Tomb-Keeper was staring at what he probably knew, so he diverted everyone's attention by changing the subject.

"So, uh, Rose, how's Aunt Silva?" he asked quickly. Apparently that wasn't a good subject either.

Rose looked down, her face holding genuine sadness. "My mom died Yug. She got really sick and died a year ago."

Yugi felt his heart drop at this news. His aunt had always been a nice person, one who was always taking care of him before moving to the States, also taking his cousin and only play mate, Rose, with her. "I'm so sorry, Rose. What happened?"

"I don't," she began sadly, still looking down. "She had a mild case of the flu and didn't get better, so she went to the doctor for some medicine. He couldn't find anything and she only got worse and was sent to the hospital." Rose took in a ragged breath to calm herself before continuing on. "Mom kept insisting she was fine, but then she just slipped away from the world one night. It was two weeks before I finally let myself be dragged back to school."

Tea placed a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder. "It's alright."

"You said she died a year ago, right? How've you been getting by till now?" Tristan asked her curiously.

"Simple: I ran the hobby shop we owned for a while after school. You know; making game figurines, little toys, and stuff for table top RPG's," she said, sounding a bit proud of herself. "Anyway, then some bastard representative of some big shot company CEO came in and told me to clear out because the president had bought my shop. Gave me a friggin' week."

"That's harsh," Joey said sympathetically.

"Yeah," Rose nodded in agreement before continuing. "Anyway, I naturally kicked the guy out and told him to try and make me leave. That was kind of a bad move on my part because he came back with a few goons the next day and dragged me out, quite literally kicking and screaming. They threw me to the curb and told me all my personal belongings would be sent to me once I'd found a place to live. I barely managed to rent a tiny apartment with my savings and I _still_ don't know how they were able to buy the shop out from under me without my knowing it to this day."

"So then how'd you manage to get by after that? You get a job?" Tristan pressed on, genuinely interested.

Rose smirked lightly, it becoming very apparent that this was her favorite part of the story. "I started entering Duel Monsters tournaments," she stated proudly, making everyone sweat drop at this. "No really, I did. I wasn't half bad either, seeing as I made quite a name for myself and a lot of money too. The last tournament I tried to enter turned me away because I'd wipe the floor with them."

Everyone looked at her in surprise. "Are you really that good?" Marik asked what everyone was thinking, though he was just as curious.

Rose nodded vigorously. "Yep, almost as good as the Rose Duelist," she answered.

Joey gave a snort at this and Rose glared at him. "Yeah right, I'm not even sure if Yugi could beat that guy. I mean, he's like a friggin' dueling God from what I heard."

Rose raised an eyebrow, the look on her face plainly saying 'You've never seen him duel?' Joey just gave her one that said 'I don't get cable'. Smirking, Rose looked at her cousin. "So are you really that good that good Yugi?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Before he could answer, Tristan cut in with his own. "Are you joking?-He beat Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom and Kaiba at battle City, plus once before that time. He's known all over as the King of Games."

Rose ignored him, officially popping the brunette's bubble and Joey gave him a dead panned look in exchange. "So you're telling me the string bean that ran out of the room is a duelist? He sure doesn't look like much," she asked instead.

Yugi frowned at her flippant dismissal of Kaiba, although sometimes he was fed up with the taller teen on most occasions as well. "It's not too wise to underestimate him, actually. Every time I have too duel him, he seems to just get stronger."

"Whatever," Rose said, shrugging the whole comment off. "Do you want to hear the rest of the story, or not?"

"Yes," they replied in unison, making the blonde girl smile.

"Right, anyway, I was sitting on the sidewalk, cursing the jerk who had turned me away into possible inexistence, when a sea of people burst out onto the street. Some of the people were talking about the final match and I heard some idiot named Weevil Underwood had won, which, to me, is kinda sad because I've dueled the insect dweeb and he was really pathetic. Tried to cheat me out of a title I was after," she said, shaking her head in mock shame. Yugi winced when he figured out what tournament she was talking about, as did everybody else save Marik. "Anyway, after the crowd had thinned some guy in a fancy suit approached me, I guess recognizing me from a previous tournament, and tells me that I should have been allowed to enter the tournament since everyone stunk in comparison to how good I am. Then, out of absolutely no where, he offers to sponsor me in the Duelist Kingdom tournament if I wasn't invited and I said yes. So that's my story, pretty cool, huh?"

Everyone stared at Rose with their mouths hanging open like they were trying to catch flies when she finished. It was unbelievable, what kind of nut was she? Macadamia? She was quite possibly the craziest person they'd ever met, and that was saying a lot considering Marik's track record. I mean, how could she talk so casually about something like that so casually? Bloody cheezits.

"I don't think that's really what I'd call it," Joey said in a dull tone.

However, before anyone could get out another comment, the bell rang, thus signifying the end of class. They said their goodbyes and separated in the hallway to go to their next classes, walking in opposite directions. However, once again, before Rose could get very far she ran into something soft and warm, namely, Kaiba's chest.

"Ow, damnit," she said in annoyance as she rubbed her sore nose. "Where the hell did you come from?"

Kaiba gave her a cocky smirk. "Well maybe if you paid more attention instead of being lost in your own little world, you would have known."

Rose glared heatedly up at Kaiba, which wasn't much considering she was still rubbing her nose. "I was ya damn corn stock, you just popped out of nowhere."

Kaiba's eye twitched at the corn stock comment, but ignored it. 'What's with all these damn height jokes? Is she trying to imply something?' he thought in agitation. It took him a few more seconds to regain his composure before he spoke next. "Do you want to get to your next class or not? I will leave you here if you keep this up."

Rose blushed at this when she realized she was walking around like Hansel and Gretel and nodded her head, causing Kaiba to smirk. She was pretty much quiet the rest of the way to their next class, mentally berating herself for her stupidity and to make sure Kaiba didn't decide to leave her behind. When they got to the room, Kaiba broke away and went to the one next to it, thus greatly confusing Rose.

"Why are you going that way, don't we have the same class?" she asked, voicing her confusion.

Kaiba snickered at her as if to say 'you're a moron'. "I was chosen as your guide because 1: we share the same home room, and 2: all my classes are near yours."

Rose turned crimson again. This was the second time this guy had made a fool of her today, and he was going to pay. Oh yes, he was going to pay dearly.

"Well all righty then, I'll see you after class Kaiba-boy," she said as coolly as she could and strode into her class. Hmm, now what should she do?

Yugi had decided to meet his cousin by the gate at the front of the school when it let out. He was a little apprehensive about leaving Rose with Kaiba for so long, seeing as he might decide to leave her or she might decide to kill him, but he figured he had no other choice after finding out that the young CEO was his cousin's guide. Not to mention he was greatly relieved when she came stumbling out of the school door, completely in one piece. Hmm, maybe he'd have to reeducate her on her manners, seeing as in this country, being rude could get you arrested. (A/N This is actually true, I looked into it and saw that you could get arrested if you aren't polite to a stranger.)

"Yugi!" she cried out in pure joy as she bowled over an innocent freshman when she caught sight of him. Hmm, Kaiba must have been rough on her.

Before Yugi could even say anything, Rose had enveloped the shorter boy in a desperate bone-crushing hug; thus squeezing his windpipe as she lifted him off the ground. "Rose…I can't breathe…" he managed to gasp out as his vision went blurry.

Rose let the star-headed boy go, smiling sheepishly as she waited patiently for him to stop wheezing before she spoke. Once he had managed to discern that he was, in fact, still breathing and alive, he looked up at Rose with annoyed/curious eyes. "Oh Yugi, it was horrible!" she began, her voice high and whining piteously. "First Kaiba said he'd leave me to starve if I didn't shut-up, then he said my voice would crack the windows if it went any higher, then-then he made a fool out of me during lunch, and-and-" Rose stopped mid-rant when her eyes spotted the source of her grievances. Almost immediately, the Glare of a Thousand Deaths made its way to her pale face and Yugi took a step back, knowing and not liking that look. "And Yugi, he called me a moron."

The King of Games gave her an exasperated look. 'A 'moron'? That's the worst he could do? Either Rose lost some brain cells in the states or Kaiba is losing his touch," he thought, looking at his cousin as she bristled like a cat through slitted eyes.

Rose smiled darkly as she watched the young CEO conversing with a teacher, his face remaining impassive as the educator crooned over him. "He must pay. He must pay dearly," she said in what sounded like a hundred voices at once; Yugi's eyes bugged out. They did even more when his insane cousin turned to him, smiling sweetly. "I'll be right back."

With that said, Rose skipped off in Kaiba's general direction, fully intent on reeking her vengeance on the unsuspecting teen. It almost made you feel sorry for him; _almost._

"Hey Yugi, where's Rose going?" Joey asked as he and the others popped out of Nowheresville.

"To beat the tar out of Kaiba," he answered simply.

They all sweat dropped.

"Is she allowed to do that?" Marik asked, the girl confusing him greatly as he watched her walk up behind Kaiba and kick him in the head. In a skirt, no less.

"Apparently so, since the teacher seems to not be doing anything," Bakura pointed out, indicating the gaping teacher. (A/N That's right, the white haired psycho's here. Wouldn't be story without him.)

Tea just sweat dropped. "I think the teacher is too horrified to do anything anyways," she grumbled, though no one heard.

Rose chose that moment to walk back up to the group, a huge grin on her face. Yugi just gave her a deadpanned look. "Feeling better?" he asked monotonously.

"Yup," was her simple answer, still grinning like the dork she was.

Yugi rolled his eyes to the heavens, asking why he was cursed with a cousin like her. "Rose, this is Bakura. He's another friend of ours and he's coming home with us today," he said, indicating the white haired boy beside him.

"Pleased to meet you," Bakura said in his sexy British accent (Which it is.), smiling at her.

Rose grinned widely at him. "Same to you," she replied.

With that, the rag tag group set off for the Turtle Game Shop, chatting happily as they went. Well, except for two of them.

"Yugi, I have something to discuss with you," Marik whispered as they followed behind the others, watching as Rose laughed at something Bakura had told her.

Yugi nodded, already having a good idea of what he wanted to talk about. He caught a glimpse of Rose's necklace as she turned to yell at Tristan, the gold moon gleaming in the afternoon light. In the back of his mind, something told him that he shouldn't admire its beautiful light.

At 4:00, Seto Kaiba was sitting in his corporate office at his desk, nursing a large bump on his head. Silently, he cursed that Rose-girl; weren't women not supposed to do something like kick a 6'4" man in the head?-Especially when that same woman was around 5'8" and wearing a precariously short skirt that would lift up if the wind blew too hard? Damnit, he was starting to sound like that idiot Wheeler, but damn did that Rose kick high for a girl in a skirt. It almost impressed him…almost.

Kaiba's secretary chose that moment to walk in, a bag of ice in hand for her concussed boss. She smirked when he took the bag from her irritably, placing it on the hidden knot on the back of his head and letting out a pain filled groan before shifting it a bit. It had pleased her to no end when the chauffer had told her what had happened to 'the young Master', and they'd laughed about it once one of his bodyguards had escorted him up to his office. It was about damn time someone kicked that huge head of his!

"Sir, a Mr. Pegasus is on the line for you," she said, having a hard time trying to hide her amusement.

Kaiba ignored her obvious glee at his pain, vowing to fire her later if his concussion didn't make him forget and sent the irritating woman away. He quickly pressed the button on the video phone and a most hated familiar face appeared.

"Ah, Kaiba-boy. I'm so glad to see you're well," the white-haired billionaire greeted nonchalantly, a grin on his partly obstructed face.

Kaiba's eye twitched slightly, but he ignored it. "As well as someone who got kicked in the head can be," he bit out sarcastically. "To what do I owe this honor?"

Pegasus grinned at Kaiba's reaction. "Just calling to make sure my precious duelist arrived in Japan safely. After all, we don't want this deal to fall through, now do we?" he said in a mocking tone, Kaiba was sure of it. That bastard, taunting him like that! He'd like to see the idiot's reaction if he ever found he had that kind of power…

But for now, all Kaiba could do was glare; and glare he did. "Your _precious _duelist never even got off the plane," he growled.

Pegasus blinked, seeming genuinely perplexed by this information. "Impossible! I saw her off to the gate myself, there's no way you could have missed her," he said after a few seconds, sounding sure of himself. It would figure Kaiba would loose his best employee.

The brunette was silent. "'Her'?"

"Of course 'her'," Pegasus laughed, sorely amused with the disbelief present in his business rival's voice. "What kind of boy would call himself a flower, of any kind?"

Kaiba was tempted to say _"Someone who work's for you.",_ but he remained silent.

"I even made sure she was wearing the rose choker that's her trademark so you could find her! I did tell you she would be wearing it right-what am I saying, _of course _I did. It would have been the only way to identify her," the white-haired millionaire continued to ramble light-heartedly, unaware of the slow horror that was creeping onto Kaiba's face. "Well, there's that and her unusual eyes and hair-style…"

He wasn't listening anymore; he'd stopped shortly after that last comment, and even then he felt anger begin to bubble inside him. The ice pack he had been holding had slipped from his hand to the ground, looking lonely and forlorn as it lay on the ground forgotten. Kaiba, meanwhile, was trying to sort through the overwhelming anger that was slowly consuming him.

"I'll be right back," he said coolly, interrupting Pegasus' rambling so the older man could look at him curiously. "Better yet, _we'll_ be back." And with that, Kaiba hung up the phone before the other could answer.

**End**

I am _sooo_ sorry I haven't updated in, like, forever. But I have been so busy with other stuff, not to mention all the little one-shots I've been making, that I completely forgot about this one. I'm not saying it's completely my fault, because it isn't, but it's also yours, the oh-so-wonderful reader's. You have no idea how hard it is to balance writing and our normal lives so that you can enjoy our pains. I'm not being stuck-up, no I'm just as much to blame, but it would nice to get a review every once in a while. This is the main reason I haven't updated: no one reviews. Which is why, from now on, I'm requiring at least five, count 'em, 5 reviews for me to update the next chapter. If I do not get 5 reviews, I will discontinue my evil little story and stick to one-shots for as long as I am interested. That is all. bows

Shio: Ro-chan, stop whining and start typing. whacks with a frying pan

Ro: ;; Ow, that really hurts! rubs head

Koharu (my sister): Good, now get to typing.

Ro: sighs The things I do for love…


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, chapter three. I know this is taking awhile, but I tell you this all worth it. I'd tell you why, but then I'd be giving it away. And I'm sure you're all wondering about the rating, but the reason for that will happen later on. You just have to wait till then…

Koharu: Like they'll really wait that long. _I_ update more than you!

Ro: glares Yeah, well I have more stories to work with than you.

Koharu: rolls eyes Mm-hm, suure. Excuses, excuses.

Shio: Shush and let the woman type!

Koharu: sticks out tongue Bleh!

Shio: Ro-chan doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! so there is no use suing her over it. Right Ro-chan?

Ro: glares B4k4s.

Enjoy, su!

**Chapter 3**

Rose was currently upstairs changing out of that damn uniform she was forced to wear. She'd gone up immediately as soon as they'd gotten home, claiming that if she stayed in that overly short skirt a moment longer, there would probably be some sirens in the neighborhood. The others didn't appear to mind, seeing as they were more concerned with why Marik was there in the first place. And why wouldn't they be? It wasn't every day that someone who had been your enemy a few years ago showed up claiming something was seriously wrong.

"I take it this isn't an exercise on your new found freedom, is it?" Tea asked seriously, waiting expectantly for him to begin.

Marik shook his head no. "Correct. My being here has something to do with the holders of the Millennium Items," he started.

"But Yugi's got nearly all the items, so what could be wrong with the others that has you so worried," Tristan interrupted before he could continue much farther.

Tea smacked him in the arm and sent him a glare that told him to shut it before she looked back to Marik. "Sorry, please continue."

Marik nodded. "Those who _once_," he glared at Tristan, "held the items, although only Yugi and Shadi have them now."

"Who's Shadi?" Joey asked, trying to place name and face together. He could not remember who the man was, but knew the name was familiar to him.

"Shadi was the keeper of the Millennium Items," Yugi explained, trying to find a way to break it to them. "He, well, was the one who made the Professor attack us that time at the museum."

There was a flash of recognition at the mention of that singular event, then a few flashes of anger and some surprise. Oh yeah, he was the one who'd turned Tea into a living doll and then turned around and saved Devlin and Tristan from falling off the blimp during Battle City. What a two-faced guy, they thought as they remembered.

"Yeah, we remember now," Tea said tightly, having not forgiven him just yet. After all, the man was only trying to see if Yugi was worthy of the Millennium Puzzle. Although…he didn't have to try and kill all of them just to do it.

Marik gave a tight smile, reading their thoughts without their needing to tell him what they were thinking. "Yes, anyway, the Pharaoh locked away the dark magic of the Shadow Games away in the eight items in order to save the world. But what he didn't know was—"

"Wait, wait, I thought there were seven items, not eight," Bakura interrupted. He received a glare from the Egyptian, the tan boy's pertinence running thin.

"Officially, yes, but he didn't know he'd created an eighth when his daughter ran into the hall where they were making them," he explained with barely concealed annoyance. The four backed off, much to his relief, deciding letting him get to what he was talking about was safer then interrupting and asking. "Only the six priests and himself were allowed in when she came just as the magic was being sealed away. Her disturbance caused the Pharaoh to loose his concentration, and some of the black magic slipped into the necklace she was wearing at the time; it was unfortunate that she was the only one who noticed as she was being dragged out by the guards, because if they had, her fate wouldn't have been so harsh."

Yugi looked thoughtful, wondering if the girl was actually his other half's daughter. The ghost hadn't told him if he'd had one, but then he didn't seem to remember much of his past anyways. "So what does this have to do with me?" he asked once the Egyptian was finished. "What do I have to do now?"

Marik didn't look at him for a moment, and Yugi felt nervous for it. "You and the holder of that missing item have to save me and the other former holders from descending into darkness and insanity," he replied reluctantly, still not meeting the other boy's violet eyes.

Purple eyes hardened. "And that means…?"

"That if and when we do, we'll be unstoppable and humanity will be in danger," he finished, a hand coming up to rub his eyes; they all knew that he really didn't want to look at them, since he had already tried to destroy the world once, and he'd actually wanted to at that time.

"When will this all happen?" Tea's voice broke through the silence.

Marik was silent.

"Marik," Joey urged, growing panicky.

He sighed heavily. "It's already started," the former tomb keeper said finally; he cringed at their confused and questioning looks. "'When the Millennium Puzzle and Millennium Luna are reunited, the light they emit will set into motion a chain of events that shall eventually bring about the end of the world if not stopped.'"

Yugi paled visibly when the other boy had finished speaking the legend, remembering the other night as he and Rose were going to sleep. Marik saw this, and his stomach dropped when he put two and two together, realizing why the tri-colored boy had turned so white.

"Yugi," he breathed, suddenly finding it hard to do so. "You know who has the Millennium Luna, don't you?"

The poor boy could only nod weakly as his throat constricted, cutting off his vocal chords; the blonde could only stare at him in horror.

"You two mind cluing us in?" Joey asked through the thick cloud of tension, asking what the other three were afraid to.

Yugi swallowed thickly, not hearing his blonde friend's question as he continued to stare at the Egyptian. "The Millennium Luna, that's Rose's necklace isn't it?"

Marik nodded, unable to speak himself. He looked away from the five of them, falling into the pregnant silence that seemed to fill the room. He couldn't breath suddenly, his throat closing up just like Yugi's had, but he forced himself to take in deep gulps of air almost greedily. The tension in the air was so thick, he was almost tempted to ask for a knife so that he could try and cut it away; he was about to when the door of the shop slammed open.

"Where is she?!" Kaiba's voice boomed from the entrance. The six of them had to scramble from the back room just to see what was going on, being that a visit from Seto Kaiba was never a good thing.

"Where's who?" Bakura was the first to ask.

Kaiba glowered menacingly at him. "What do you mean 'who'?! The damned Rose Dualist, of course!" he shrieked, looking like he was about to punch somebody out. "If I get my hands on her, I swear that she'll never be able to pick up another card again!"

Everyone looked at him as if he had just proclaimed his undying love for Joey (who was even thinking that might be more likely then the crap he was spewing right now himself), each with their own thoughts on what he was yelling about.

'_What the hell is Kaiba on now?'_ Joey and Tristan unknowingly thought in unison.

'_Oh God, this is embarrassing,'_ was what Tea thought as she brought a hand up to hide her face.

'_I think he's finally lost it,'_ Bakura thought in wonder, staring at the brunette as if he were some kind of freak.

'_Did he just say the Rose Dualist was a she?'_ were the disbelieving thoughts of Yugi and Marik, who were decidedly to close to the angry man and moved back safely behind Joey and Tristan.

And finally…

'_Pie…'_ Of course, Grandpa wasn't in the room; he was upstairs staring at a pie in the refrigerator, but we can pretend he didn't hear the ruckus downstairs, right?

"'Bout time you figured it out, Kaiba-boy," Rose said from her spot on the stairs as she leaned on the banister, looking amused and bored.

Kaiba glared. "You, why didn't you tell me it was you," he demanded dangerously, to which the rooms other six moved backwards should he decide to lash out. "You could have saved a whole lot of humiliation by coming up to me at the airport instead of leaving me to stand there for four hours."

The blonde girl snorted at him. "Oh hush up. It's not my fault you're stupid, so don't blame me for it," she said dismissively, waving him off as she descended the stairs to walk up behind her cousin. She hugged him from behind. "Besides, my darling cousin and his wonderful friends were there to greet me, and I couldn't just be rude and leave them there without at least saying hello. What kind of person would that make me?"

Kaiba's face turned red, fighting the urge to snap that it would make her the same annoying brat that she was being right now. He didn't have to once he'd caught a glimpse of what she was wearing from around Yugi's now decidedly to large head, along with two other nameless males. (A/N coughs Marik and Bakura coughs again)

Rose wore what appeared to be a skirt made of black velvet that reached all the way down to the tops of her feet, two slits reaching up to just above her knees on either side revealing the boots she'd been wearing for the last few days. Her black shirt was a little ditty that hung just barely on her shoulders, revealing the smooth skin that was there, and the tight sleeves stopping just before her wrists as she draped her arms loosely around Yugi's neck. That blasted rose choker clung to her neck on the same strip of see-through black ribbon it had been on when he first dismissed it, but this time a pair of matching dangle earrings accompanied it, taunting him as the swung form her earlobes. She'd taken out the braid and pig-tail she'd sported earlier in the afternoon, letting her lopsided hair fall down with its cute wave that could also be mistaken for light curls had she let her hair flow wild. Fishnet stockings were seen from where her boots stopped on up to where the slit in the skirt began to open, and two familiar belts hung loosely on her hips, completing the ensemble.

Good God, was she trying to seduce them?!

"Rose, what's Kaiba talking about?" Yugi asked suspiciously, pushing her arms off of him and turning to face her with narrowed eyes. Hmm, seemed he wasn't all that surprised by her get up; lucky him.

The blonde laughed nervously, hoping that Kaiba's sudden appearance would have distracted him so that she could figure up a suitable explanation. "Heh heh, um, Yugi do you remember when I said I was at Dualist Kingdom for the tournament a few years ago?"

He nodded, not sure and not liking where all this was headed.

"Well, you see, I wasn't exactly there as a contestant," she continued, wringing her hands like a child caught doing something bad. Oh dear lord… "I was there as an Eliminator."

Silence, and then…

"What?!" Joey screeched in horror, basically covering what all the others wanted to say for them.

Yugi stared at his cousin in horror, opting for that instead of the shock Tea, Tristan, and Bakura were currently warring over. Rose had worked, no, still was working for Pegasus?! When and how had that happened—no. Couldn't be.

"Do you mean to say that the big shot company president from your story was Pegasus?" Tristan sputtered finally, seeing as loud mouth Joey was now the one reeling from the information overload. "The guy's a flippin' psycho!" The last part was yelled out.

Rose pouted at all the fuss being made, clearly unaffected by their reactions. "You see? This is exactly why I didn't want Grandpa to tell you guys. I knew you'd all flip out."

Yugi blinked owlishly at her. "Grandpa knew?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course he knew!" Rose exclaimed in annoyance. "He's been in charge of my trust fund since my mom died; don't you think he'd have noticed when large sums of money started being sifted into it by one 'M. Pegasus'?"

Yugi couldn't believe what he was hearing, no he didn't want to.

"Excuse me, but if haven't noticed I'm still here," Kaiba interrupted, growing irritated at being ignored.

Two pairs of eyes, one pair violet and the other violet and blue, glared at him, causing him to shrink away for once. "Oh, shut up," two voices hissed, to which he actually obeyed. Hell, even Kaiba knew he needed to keep his mouth shut.

"You still could have at least told me," Yugi said, hurt visible in his eyes as he turned angrily back to his cousin.

"Nah-uh, 'cause you'd still would have flipped out like you are now!" she yelled at him, her hands on her hips. "Ya damn pin cushion!"

"Don't call me a pin cushion, Rainbow Bright!" he yelled back.

"Porcupine!"

"LOPPY!"

Oops, wrong insult.

Rose went dangerously silent, her body completely still as her hands balled into fists at her sides. "What…did you just call me?" her voice low and dangerous as she spoke.

Yugi realized he'd said the wrong thing to the wrong person, and took a step back. No, don't step back, he ordered himself to stay put. What's done is done, and there was no turning back; especially when arguing with Rose. Of course, the only agonizing part was trying to figure out what his manic cousin was going to do, and the only problem the others would realize soon enough.

"Y-you heard me," he stuttered bravely, trying his very hardest not to sound scared. Failing, oh so very miserably.

By this time, Rose had lowered her head so that her hair fell over her eyes dangerously, obscuring them from view. She looked slightly possessed; slightly because even if she was, she could still do twice the amount of damage Yugi knew she could do had a spirit tried to invade her body. Funny how strong her personality seemed at the moment, everyone thought as they all took a gigantic step back.

"Yugi," she said, her voice low and filled with promises of death; the spiky-headed teen gulped, mentally trying to prepare himself for his looming demise. Everyone held their breaths, and then…

"You're mean!" she cried as she snapped her head up, tears streaming down her face as she burst into sobs. She covered her face with her hands, her back shaking with the wrenching cries as she leaned on a confused Bakura's shoulder. Kaiba growled, not at all sure why, but kept at it anyway, and poor Bakura, still severely confused, just stood there and let her cry with an odd look on his face.

Yugi, meanwhile, just sweat-dropped as everyone turned their own confused gazes towards him. They were practically screaming 'WHAT THE HELL?!'

'_I should of known,'_ he thought in exasperation, dragging a hand down his face.

"Rose, knock it off," he actually growled, his eye twitching in annoyance. "I'm not buying it, and you should well know that I didn't mean what I said either."

Everyone watched with numbed amazement as Rose sniffled once before brightening as if by magic, saying, "Oh, alright. I should have known that my powers of whoa wouldn't work on you, so I forgive you," in what was the perkiest voice Yugi had ever heard her use.

Tea twitched. "Do you ever cry for real?!" she yelled, just as exasperated as her friend.

Rose put a finger to her chin as if in deep thought. "No, not really," she replied grinning.

The brunette gave her a droll look. "Never mind," she grumbled, copying Yugi's earlier motion and dragged a hand down her face.

The blonde grinned again, obviously severely amused by the chaos she had created. "Right then, now that that little matter's been cleared up, time to hit the road," she exclaimed happily, dashing behind the store counter and returning with a duffle bag that Yugi hadn't noticed was there. "C'mon bamboo-boy, onward and off!"

That said, Rose shouldered her bag and proceeded to walk briskly past a confused Seto Kaiba to the door, only stopping when a hand closed around the back of her shirt, dragging her back. She looked back to see a slightly taller Yugi, his hair spikier and mauve eyes more severe looking on his pale face. (A/N Heh heh, he went Yami. )

She smiled innocently at him, to which Yami raise an eyebrow.

"And just where do you think you're going?" his deep voice reverberated from his chest.

To which Rose replied brightly, "With Kaiba."

Another raised eyebrow. "And why are you going with Kaiba?" he asked curiously, wondering whether or not he wanted to know anyway.

"Because it's part of a deal Pegasus is trying to work with him," came her airy reply, her smile growing into a grin when she caught Kaiba's grimace at the reminder.

Yami blinked. "And what deal is this?"

If possible, Rose's grin grew even wider with secret amusement. "That I come live with Kaiba for a while and he keeps me amused and Pegasus won't attempt another Hostile Take Over. A sort of truce, if you will," she said with an evil cackle at the annoyed and fearful Kaiba's direction, rubbing her hands together in anticipation of the evils she would reap upon his head on her bosses orders. Oh no, nothing bad like stealing souls and the like, nothing as bad as that; just her pulling a few over the top pranks and making the brunette's life an all around hell for the next year or so. If Joey was completely aware of her plans, he probably wouldn't have been so against them.

"There is _no_ way you're going to stay with Kaiba," the blonde boy exploded, glaring at the source of his woes with a passion.

Kaiba sneered derisively at him. "You have no choice in the matter, so go back to playing you're little games, lapdog."

"WHAT?!" Joey screeched, leaping at the brunette with murder in his eyes. He was annoyed to find himself being hampered down by Marik, Tristan and Bakura.

"Joey, calm yourself," Bakura pleaded before he was elbowed in the face. Tristan got him revenge by smacking his blonde friend up side the head, gaining immense satisfaction when it seemed he was now seeing stars. Tea watched them in disgust.

Fortunately, whether for them or the others, they went ignored for the moment as Yami fixed his other half's cousin with serious stare. She felt a bit unnerved, but didn't let on. "I don't think you should go with him," he said with concern.

Rose stuck her tongue out at him. "Well tough, 'cause gramps already okayed it, so there," she shot back with childish annoyance, still not sensing the change in her cousin's personality.

Yami raised an eyebrow. "He did?"

"Yep, so I'll see you all Monday," she chirped before grabbing Kaiba by the arm and dragged him out to the limo waiting outside and leaving before Yami could utter another protest to her plans.

Silence rang through the shop for several minutes, each of its six remaining occupants trying to gather their thoughts as they stared at the still open door. Then Grandpa walked in.

"Yugi? What was all that noise just now?" Sugoroku's voice echoed before he came into the room.

'Yugi' glared at him, regaining control just as the old man walked in. "Grandpa, you have a lot of explaining to do."

Later, at Kaiba's mansion…

"Seto, where's you go? I got a cal from your secretary claiming you'd just disappeared," Mokuba as soon as his big brother stepped in through the front door. He was surprised when Rose followed after him, her mismatched eyes scanning the part of the mansion she could see at the moment with wonder. "What's she doing here?" he asked curiously.

Kaiba gave a long suffering sigh, and Mokuba raised an eyebrow. "She's the Rose Dualist," was all he would say; to his eternal annoyance, Rose herself waved amiably at Mokuba, who looked down right dubious. Couldn't blame him, really.

"No really, what's she doing here?"

He glared at his brother, catching the barely concealed laughter in the younger Kaiba's voice. "She's. The. Rose. Dualist." He repeated through clenched teeth. God, he only wished he could be as disbelieving as Mokuba right now; honestly, was it so hard to believe she was the famous champion from America? Know what, scratch that.

"Hiya Mokie," Rose greeted brightly, waving again. "Long time no see."

Mokuba Kaiba gave her an odd look, not having the heart to tell her that it had only been a day since they'd first met. "Hi…," he said unsurely, motioning for her to follow him up the winding stairway. "I guess I'll show you to your room. Follow me, please."

"'Kay," she hummed, throwing her duffle bag over her shoulder once more to follow him up. Before disappearing around the corner, she paused at the top of the steps, smiling a small, shy and gentle smile. Kaiba could swear his heart had nearly stopped beating. "Goodnight Seto," she said softly, her voice echoing around the empty hall. Mokuba called for her to hurry up, and she disappeared around the corner, leaving the elder Kaiba standing there in utter confusion as red spilled across his cheeks.

Had both her eyes just been violet?

Marik Ishtar wasn't one to usually complain when things got bad nowadays, especially since he had had the great fortune to have been set free from his fate as a Tomb Keeper for the Pharaohs lost soul, but with the way things had gone the last two days, he was certainly entitled to be a bit grouchy from it. But he wouldn't complain, at least not until he was safely back in his new apartment with Ishizu and Odeon, and even then it would only be about how his day had gone from okay, to bad, to worse. And all because of a little necklace, he thought sourly; he made a note to never wear jewelry again.

"Brother, is that you?" Ishizu called from the kitchen when she heard the door slam closed. She was a lot more cheery now that he wasn't possessed by evil, but even this had upset her, and he really didn't want to tell her the news.

"Yes Sister," he called hesitantly, tossing his bag down by the door and tossing his uniform jacket on the coat rack beside it. He noted that the smell of Egyptian cooking was filling his nose with it's delicious scent, recognizing Odeon's cooking immediately, but he wasn't all that hungry now and just wanted to get this over with. "Could you and Odeon come out here for a moment?"

There was minute's silence before his sister and adopted brother filed out into the small living room to join him, both sitting opposite him on the couch while he took the chair. They noted apprehensively the way he held his head in his hands.

"Master Marik, what is the matter?" Odeon asked reluctantly, forgetting to drop the no longer needed formality. It went unheeded.

The sandy blonde was silent for a minute longer before looking up at his siblings with such a despairing look, Ishizu wanted to take him into her arms. "I have some good news and some bad news," he said miserably, wringing his hands.

The two older siblings looked at each other, giving the other an identical look of worry. "What's the good news?" Ishizu asked gently.

Marik hesitated. "I found the Millennium Luna," he answered slowly, almost mechanically. "And I know who has it."

The Egyptian woman blinked, surprised. "Who has it?"

"The Pharaoh's-I mean, Yugi's cousin, Rose," he answered in that same mechanical voice.

Well that wasn't _too_ terribly bad, they both thought. They could just ask Yugi to get it from her so that they could figure out what to do later; but Odeon had a sneaking suspicion that he couldn't completely ignore.

"That isn't the bad news, is it?" he rumbled hesitantly, watching his brother with fearful golden eyes.

Marik shook his head, burying it in his hands once more. "No, it isn't," he breathed just loud enough for them to hear. "You see…she's living with Kaiba now and—" He didn't want to continue.

"And," Ishizu urged fearfully.

"And…and the curse has been activated," he blurted out finally, still not meeting their eyes. He knew what was there anyways; it was the same cold horror that had crept its way through his stomach before it froze his heart, and he hated having to be the one to tell them the news and be the cause of it. He never wanted to make his family miserable again, after all.

Ishizu and Odeon paled considerably despite their dark complexions, both again thinking the same thing. This was not good; this was not good at all.

**End Chapter 3**

Okay, fairly certain I've lost a few readers for not updating, but I have a good excuse (sorta)! You people don't review, and when you people don't review, the poor starved Authoress feels alone and unloved-much like a pet abandoned out in the rain, as I have told my friend Shio-chan every time she doesn't call back. Anyways, I apologize profusely to my loyal readers who have not pulled their hair out waiting, and thank you for not giving up. Gomen nasai and arigatou gozaimasu minna-san!

Koharu: Stop making excuses, you're lazy and you know it!

Ro: glares And when was the last time you updated?

Koharu: grins smugly Just last month; you were there, too.

Shio: Ooh, burn!

Ro Do I have to put you back in the closet for your behavior?

Shio: shuts up

Ro: Anyways, R&R, because reviews are an author's life blood, and without them, the story dies. Until next time, Ja Ne!


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